A place where the products of my mindless imagination come alive. Or not.

Menu

No pressure

This episode 17 from season seven of How I Met Your Mother was funny and heartwarming and thoughtful all at the same time. Bittersweet and poignant moments to remind us how reel life takes its cues from the real life at times.

‘Whatever I thought was there, she thought differently.’ — says Barney when he was asked if he wants to get back with Robin now that she’s single.

‘No, look, I’m sorry I can’t do that anymore. As long as the door is even a little bit open, I have this feeling that I’ll just be waiting around to see if I win the lottery when you turn 40. I think you know how you feel about me now and I don’t think time is going to change that.
— Ted tells Robin after they try to work out if romantic love could still blossom between them.

‘Do you love me?’ Ted finally asks Robin. And he gets the closure he has been searching for after five years of secretly loving the girl he believes to be The One.

The scene ended with the hauntingly sad Florence and Machine’s ‘Shake It Out’ song.

As the sad music plays softly in the background, we hear Ted’s voiceover: ‘Here’s the funny thing: in my own crazy way, I was kind of happy. For the first time in years, there was no little part of me clinging to the dream of being with Robin, which meant for the first time in years the world was wide open. Because, kids, when a door closes, well… you know the rest.’

And the camera pans to Ted smiling as he walks out of the bar on a rainy day and continues his journey on a street teeming with passersby carrying yellow umbrellas.

For some reason, the ups and downs of Ted’s relationship woes and hopes resonate with me. And I find myself rooting for him at times. Maybe because I secretly want the things he want in life and deep down, my naive mind thinks that if there’s a happy ending for Ted, maybe… just maybe, my life will turn out the same wonderful way that I’ve always dreamed of.

Like what Marshall says to Lily when she tries to claim the winnings on her bet that Ted and Robin will never get back together: ‘Not yet.’